Ex-mobster Key To Case Against Mafia

July 21, 1985|By M. Anthony Lednovich, Staff Writer

The kiss of death -- il bacio di morte -- is on Joe Dogs.

The Mafia dons want him silenced forever, and soon.

In only four months, Joseph ``Joe Dogs`` Iannuzzi, a longtime Palm Beach County loan shark, bookie and cocaine dealer, is scheduled to appear in a Manhattan federal courtroom to testify in the infamous ``Commission`` trial in which the defendants are the overlords of the five New York Cosa Nostra families.

The case is considered to be the most significant Mafia prosecution ever undertaken.

Iannuzzi, 54, also will testify in other organized crime cases in New York, including the racketeering trial of reputed Colombo family boss Carmine ``The Snake`` Persico.

His appearance at the trials signals the emergence of the stocky, bulldog- faced former mobster as one of the most important U.S. Justice Department organized crime informers since Jimmy ``The Weasel`` Fratianno in 1979.

``Anytime you have someone intimately involved in organized crime, like Joe, it`s going to have a devastating impact. An insider knows how organized crime functions and the various ranks of its members. They can lay out the whole thing while providing admissible evidence,`` said Roma M. Theus II, a former prosecutor with the U.S. Organized Crime Strike Force who directed Iannuzzi`s undercover activities when he turned informer in early 1981.

Four and half years ago, Iannuzzi survived a mob strongman`s murder attempt after failing to make substantial loan shark payments. His death was sought as a matter of honor within the New York Gambino crime family.

Iannuzzi eventually repaid $31,000 and was returned to the good graces of the Gambinos. But unknown to the mobsters, the money was provided by the FBI.

Thus was spawned the FBI`s ``Operation Home Run`` undercover investigation of organized crime. The name originated from the mob`s attempt to beat Iannuzzi to death with a baseball bat.

After 18 months of undercover work and after only one year on the witness stand, Iannuzzi`s testimony has already resulted in the convictions of former Riviera Beach Police Chief William Boone Darden on bribery charges, along with three Gambino family members and three of their South Florida associates on racketeering charges.

He has provided police with graphic accounts of a mob war that included murder and extortion for control of the rackets in Palm Beach and Broward counties and corruption within the Palm Beach County Sheriff`s Office dating back to 1973.

But officials say the best is yet to come.

``The Boone Darden case was just one aspect of the Iannuzzi undercover operation,`` said a Justice Department official who asked not to be named. ``There are numerous other cases and many other facets of his involvement in organized crime and their activities. And, there are still more indictments down the road.``

Iannuzzi is expected to give detailed evidence about the workings of The Commission -- the Mafia`s board of directors, which oversees the business of murder, labor racketeering and extortion.

Indicted in New York last February as members of The Commission were reputed mob leaders Paul ``Big Paul`` Castellano of the Gambino family, Gennaro ``Jerry Lang`` Langella of the Colombo family, Antonio ``Tony Ducks`` Corallo of the Lucchese family, Anthony ``Fat Tony`` Salerno of the Genovese family and Phillip ``Rusty`` Rastelli of the Bonanno family.

Added to the indictment last week was Persico, reputed boss of the Colombo family, who had been a fugitive until his arrest last March in a New York hideout. Langella had served as boss of the family during Persico`s flight.

Iannuzzi`s courtroom track record has been so impressive that the mob bosses want him dead. They decided their only shot at having him killed would be during the June trial of two Gambino members indicted in the Darden case.

FBI agents learned of the plot and shadowed two suspected New York hit men until they left South Florida.

However, a brief portion of Iannuzzi`s testimony about The Commission was disclosed in a government trial memorandum filed before the first ``Operation Home Run`` trial last year.

The memorandum states that while attending the wedding of the son of reputed Colombo captain Dominick Cataldo in New York during August 1981, Iannuzzi was summoned one night to the home of Thomas ``Tommy A`` Agro at 509 Halevy St. in Cedarhurst. It was Agro who had dubbed Iannuzzi with the nickname ``Joe Dogs`` for his addiction to betting on greyhound races.

Agro, 58, was Iannuzzi`s mentor and was sponsoring him for membership in the Gambino family.

According to the government document, when Iannuzzi arrived at Agro`s home they retired to the den and talked for about two hours.

Among the topics discussed were recent decisions by The Commission, which had convened two months earlier.